Obama disappoints from the beginning of his speech

Less than a minute into President Obama’s Oval Office address, my heart sank. For the umpteenth time since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill began, an anxious nation was informed that Energy Secretary Steven Chu has a Nobel Prize. Obama’s speech pretty much went down hill from there.

For weeks, administration officials have been trumpeting Chu’s distinction at every opportunity. Earlier in the day, White House environmental guru Carol Browner cited the Nobel in a television interview. Presidential adviser David Axelrod talks about the Nobel all the time, as does Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. If there’s an official list of administration talking points about the response to the oil spill, “Chu’s Nobel” has to be at the top.

We can all applaud Chu’s accomplishment. But here’s the thing: Chu is a physicist, not an engineer or a biologist. His Nobel was awarded for the work he did in trapping individual atoms with lasers. He’s absurdly smart. But there’s nothing in his background to suggest he knows any more about capping an out-of-control deep-sea well, or containing a gargantuan oil spill, than, say, columnist Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel in economics. Or novelist Toni Morrison, who won the Nobel in literature.

In fact, Chu surely knows less about blowout preventers than the average oil-rig worker and less about delicate coastal marshes than the average shrimp-boat captain. His credentials, in this context, are meaningless. So do the president and his aides cite Chu’s beside-the-point Nobel to reassure Americans that the team handling the oil spill knows what it’s doing? Or are Obama, Browner, Axelrod, Gibbs and the others constantly trying to reassure themselves?

The president was cool, determined, forceful -- stylistically, all the things that the braying commentators said he had to be. But where was the substance? Specifically -- and urgently -- where was the new plan to contain the oil spill and protect the coastline? I wish I’d heard the president order the kind of all-out marshaling and deployment of resources that now seems imperative. But I didn’t.

Instead, I heard about a special commission to study the accident. I heard about new leadership at the agency that oversees offshore drilling. I heard about a new long-term restoration plan for the gulf region. All of this is great -- but what about the oil?

Obama’s real message was about the need to end America’s ruinous addiction to oil. But he didn’t lay the proper foundation for that important part of the speech. First, he needed to enlist Americans in a holy crusade to halt the worst environmental disaster in our history. Instead, he told us about Dr. Chu’s Nobel prize.

The only way to get Americans to stop consuming oil is to tax it. Not just a little bit, but tax it a lot. When gas is 10 bucks a gallon, guess how much gas Americans will use? They will innovate like crazy and in 10 years we will be off fossil fuels. It is the only way to do it. Obama should have announced a Carbon Tax, but he didn't and he won't. He just does not have the courage to do that. He lacks the leadership, which is very sad, but I fear it is true.

fu11231:
An addict always finds a good reason to not get off of their addiction. We could put every penny earned from a fossil fuel tax into wind and solar subsidies. If we leveled the playing field in costs, we would see a renaissance in alternative energy jobs and technology.

The only real losers would be petro-states like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

Than you for your refreshing journalistic comments. For once I see a journalist reporting on this president concerning what he actually heard instead of what he saw. This president has been magnificent manipulating podiums and cameras, finally you guys are starting to truly listen to what he has been saying...good old dis-honest political gibberish!!

Barry the incompetent boob Obama has the Nobel Peace Prize but Barry the demander-in-chief has already sent 478 U.S. soldiers to their deaths in Afghanistan, more than were killed during the FIRST SEVEN YEARS of the war, 2001-2007.

Eugene where in the administration can you find someone with the credentials to fix this problem? And why are you of all people expecting the President to have the answer to fix the problem?

Does anyone really believe that BP wants this oil to keep gushing out of the earth's core? Does anyone here not believe that if this problem could have been fixed 50 days ago that it would not have been?

The reason to express Mr. Chu's credentials are simple. It is to notify the American public that he has the best minds at his disposal working on the problem. And by the way, Mr. Chu may not be an engineer (BP has plenty of those) but I would bet that he is a critical thinker and in this instance, this is what the administration needs; someone that can think through the situation.

Like everybody else and I am surprised quite frankly; you expect the President would have the solution. In my opinion the only thing that he can effectively do at this point is ensure that the affected citizens are taken care of and hold BP accountable for any and all financial costs associated with the clean up.

Gene is yet another crestfallen liberal who realizes that the dog they bought can't hunt. To be sure, Preznit Odinga looks good on paper, but he's never run anything larger than a lemonade stand and it shows. He has none of the leadership heuristics and instincts required of a Preznit. He can't talk, seminar, spit ball, or workshop his way out of this one. Somehow I think McCain would be doing much better for us all...

The question that worries me . . .
Is Obama Just an orator? not a President?
John Stewart showed (last evening) that Obama has not delivered on several promises, like renditions, Habeas corpus, transparency, Guantanamo, etc.

Man oh man ... I had such high hopes when I voted for him. "Hope" Geeze!

Stop talking about energy policy and fix the stupid leak! Who cares what my car runs on in 10 years! I don't want to hear about it! This is not a theoretical discusion! This is not an abstract concept! This is a realy dificult problem that needs to be tackled now!

The mindless "dufus-quotient" of a majority of printed comments to this Robinson opinion article amazes me. Then, again: the election/re-election to the U.S. presidency of a barely (and badly) "recovered-alcoholic" says more about the American electorate than Mr. Robinson would care to write about, at least in a well-respected newspaper.

What a joke. It is soooooo impersonal to be read to ALL the time. He must think we are all idiots and never watch or read about what is REALLY happening!! The "Speech Giver" is nothing more than a used car sales man.

The "Government Stupid" and the enviromentilist Lobbiest are as much to blame for this happening as BP.

Oh and BP is a big supporter of Cap and Tax!!! They have a huge natural gas business that will make billions converting coal plants to natural gas.

Kind of odd that we have a coal mine explosion and a Blowout almost back to back!! Evil is Evil and agenda's are more important than lives or the enviroment!!

Just wondering why the "Speech Giver" did not announce HIS SURGE from the Oval office. That is right the WAR against radical ISLAM is not high on the list for his AGENDA!!

TO: marknelso who wrote:
“…Everything seems to be another opportunity for a big govrnment program and spend machine…”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Have you noticed exactly WHO keeps asking the President to spend more and create more government programs?

It’s the freaking Republicans who are demanding government intervention in the Gulf instead of dealing with their corporate oil gushing buddies, you know, the ones who were begging to DRILL BABY DRILL in their own backyards.

Ok, they got their oil drilling, and they got their multi-gozillion dollar oil companies out there ruining their states, but they want to keep on drilling, and they don’t want BP, Halliburton OR Trans Ocean to pay for the clean up because they claim they need their oil company jobs more than they need clean air or clean water.

The workers have been complaining that they can’t work on the clean up because the oil smells too bad for their sensitive noses, and they claim they don’t have the proper attire to wear to an oil spill.

As for me, I wouldn’t spend a dime of Taxpayer money when BP caused the spill AND has the money to clean it up.

Absolutely WORD UP, Eugene Robinson-YOU DID INDEED NAIL IT WITH THE PRESIDENT'S TOTALLY BESIDE THE POINT, WEAK AND INEFFECTUAL SPEECH. And I'm sick sick sick at heart over this unspeakably horrific ecodisaster-so so sick at heart-.

This former Florida resident, who just returned from a vist to my beloved Gulf of Mexico two weeks ago, from some of the most beautiful areas anywhere on the planet-Sanibel Island, Ft. Myers Beach area, with its incomparable white powder beaches, its marine life, the most wondrous manatees (an endangered species-and incredibly sentient creatures) dolphins, spoonbills, herons, egrets, and sea turtles-which will be hatching on the beaches, and then moving to the water-OH SO SICK SICK SICK OVER WHAT BP-THOSE GD MURDERERS HAVE DONE, AND OF COURSE, WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHETHER THE OIL WILL EVER BE COMPLETELY CAPPED DO WE? WE DON'T KNOW THAT THESE RELIEF WELLS WILL BE DONE IN AUGUST-WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BET THAT THEY WON'T BE COMPLETED, AND IF ONE IS COMPLETED, IT'S NOT GOING TO DO THE JOB?

A DEAD ZONE-A HORRIFICLY UNSPEAKABLE DEAD ZONE. IT'S MORE THAN ONE CAN BEAR.

AND FOR ALL THE LAWYER-W HORES OUT THERE WHO ARE LINING UP BEHIND BP'S MONEY TO DEFEND THEM-(LIKE WILMER HALE'S JAMIE GORELICK FOR EXAMPLE).

YEAH, WELL, WE ALREADY KNOW, DON'T WE? LAWYERS WOULD SELL THEIR MOTHERS, AND THEIR OWN SOUL FOR THE RIGHT PRICE!

And meanwhile, the gush of oil into the Gulf continues, practically unabated, so many millions of more gallons than those evil lying BP b AS TARDS led us to believe! TO ME, BP REPRESENTS EVIL INCARNATE.

Stop talking about energy policy and fix the stupid leak! Who cares what my car runs on in 10 years! I don't want to hear about it! This is not a theoretical discusion! This is not an abstract concept! This is a realy dificult problem that needs to be tackled now!

Posted by: phntsm | June 16, 2010 11:46 AM

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Fix the problem before you start blaming people and talking about the future is Leadership 101. But since Obama's first real job in his life is being President I'm not surprised he wouldn't know that.

Gene - right on, as an ardent supporter of the President I too am extremely disappointed in him. And now the Albert Haynesworth situation - what is he doing about that. I mean this guy does NOTHING. And he hasen't even mentioned Haynesworth yet. What does this guy do all day??????

Hey Eugene, maybe geniuses like 0bama and yourself should tout the benefit of diesel? Diesel has 10% more BTU energy than gasoline. It is cheaper to refine, because the liberal clowns won't be able to force our over-burdened refineries to make "boutique" blends for every season and every section of the country. After all, Eugene we have 300 years of reserves right here on American SOIL, right now! Federal land alone holds an estimated 200+ years of oil reserves, without importing a drop. Doesn't fit the liberal tree-hugging narrative, though does it Eugene? http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/the_presidents_oil_reserves_li.html

THE PRESIDENT MISSED, REPEAT MISSED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHEN SPEAKING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FROM THE OVAL OFFICE!

He FAILED to address the following to the folks in the Gulf, and the rest of the Nation:

*What action is being take to 'FILL THE HOLE", and what is a time line for that to happen?

*What 'fast track' system has Team Obama established for the governors of the four states to get their 'spill requirements' through the federal bureaucracy?

*When he would announce a waiver of an old law (Jones Law) precluding foreign vessels to operate in US waters, to enable a vast increase of skimmers in the Gulf? Why did he turn down offers of assistance -- EARLY ON -- by European countries??

Why did he not develop and implement a fast track system to inspect off shore drill rigs, to have inspections completed by end July, where thousands of oil field and allied workers can GET BACK TO WORK? His failure to act immediately may result in the rigs (and jobs) falling into the arms of China, Africa, South America, and Europe. Is this what he really wants?

*Why did he fail to come clean on the Department of Interior’s culpability? If he continues to ‘beat up on BP’, they could have a hey day with Team Obama in court.

*Why he has failed to include FEMA as part of the greater effort?

* And, if he were seriously upset with the spill, WHY DID HE NOT ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF OVER $900,000 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION HE RECEIVED FROM BP??

President Obama brought a new meaning to "A DAY LATE, AND A DOLLAR SHORT" on June 15.

Instead of using this opportunity to outline concrete actions to help the people of the Gulf, and the rest of the Nation, he elected to pursue his own agenda, and 'NOT LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE!"

It's not that anyone expects Obama to dive in and plug the hole. To assume that's what the debate is about is stupid. It's about the clean-up. Obama turned away two countries ready and willing to help us. He ignored companies ready with supplies that were needed. There is no organization to protecting our shores from a federal level. The states have been crying for assistance for 2 months and its fallen on deaf and incompetent ears. They are now doing it on their own.

Obama is incompetent and an empty suit. He's destroying our country bit by bit with his inability to do anything but campaign. Gee, I guess executive experience is important for the most important job in our country. Who'd of thought? Sadly, those of us who did were called racists.

Thanks, Gene. I was very disappointed as well. I voted for Obama and will likely vote to re-elect him in 2012. Why? Because as disappointed as I am in him in many ways, I keep asking myself, "How would this have been handled better had McCain-Palin won?" Obama and the Democrats still remain a wiser choice than the GOP.

Thanks, Gene. I was very disappointed as well. I voted for Obama and will likely vote to re-elect him in 2012. Why? Because as disappointed as I am in him in many ways, I keep asking myself, "How would this have been handled better had McCain-Palin won?" Obama and the Democrats still remain a wiser choice than the GOP.

For once, I am profound of you, Mr. Robinson, because finally you let your head dicate what to say, instead of your idealism. this is the first time I get a glimps of what a true journalist you could have been, had you not clouded by your blind devotion to Obama.

TO: LdSentinal who wrote:
“Obama won't tackle the oil spill, because he would be accused of black-on-black crime.
Obama will meet with BP exectivies today for JUST 15 MINUTES!
Then he's off to the golf course for 4 hours…”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What a complete racist – “black-on-black crime”, is that supposed to be a joke?

George W. Bush’s label is, was, and forever will be WORSE PRESIDENT EVER.

You have a lot of wise cracks but you’re NOT saying what you think SHOULD be done.

So far as I’m concerned, President Obama spending 15 minutes with the freaks who blew out the Gulf is quite enough.

All we need is their check for $20 billion dollars, and they’re free to go.

I'd have much preferred that Obama explain that Michael Bromwich is a Washington lawyer with zero experience in the oil and gas industry, tapped to now head MMS (will interim MMS honcho Robert Abbey stay in Louisiana or head back to his BLM job in Nevada?), than listen to the nonsense about the Blessing of the Fleet.

Of course, I wish speechwriters would write in active, rather than passive, tense, too.

If Obama was President during 9/11 he would be blaming all the people that built and own tall buildings and planes that crash into tall buildings. He would try to pass a law banning all buildings over 10 stories tall and making it a rule that no plane can carry more than 20 people and must be tested not to be able to bring down a 10-story building in a direct crash.

If Obama was President during WWII he would be ban the use of the word "Nazi" in the U.S., start a new a 5-year commission to study the feasibility of building a "green" tank and appoint a new war Czar whose job it is to come up with a list of toothless sanctions against the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor.

Seems like everyone in the Administration has Nobel Prizes. 'course, it might help if any of them had any experience with anything outside of academia. Obama's reaction to anything is defined by his life experiences: he starts community organizing by setting up a "czar" or some sort of committee.

Ironically, this is precisely the sort of situation where McCain's temper and willingness to take risks and push people around would have come in handy. Not saying he would have been a great President, but I'm still mesmerized by how many people'd rather vote for an unexperienced professor over a military vet who actually had his teeth knocked out rather than betray his country. I'm constantly lectured by my progressive liberal superiors that their vaunted edumacation means they basically know what is best for me and for the country -- indeed, the fact that I am not a progressive liberal automatically means I am too stupid to grasp it for myself, like a grub staring at the sun -- and yet they are instantly suborned by every wandering Change artist coming down the pike. Next time, please use your vaunted self-proclaimed brilliance and superiority to actually think about what these guys are trying to sell you, rather than surrender to your subjective glee and giddiness. This goes double for Eugene Robinson, who took over a year and a half of disastrous Administration gaffes to see the light after infamously calling his parents from the MSNBC studio on election night to gloat over Obama's victory.

It is sad to note the drift into a kind of anti-intellectualism in discussing the role of the Secretary of Energy Steve Chu. Yes he is a physicist and the past Director of one of America's premier science labs. It would be difficult to find a serious scientist who would besmirch Chu's knowledge about the general area as you and C. Matthews have done. Reflect that Matthews daily touts you as the "Pulitzer prize winning columnist".

So the President didn't talk about a new plan? If he had, Mr. Robinson and all the other media yakkers would criticized as not being enough. If the talk was 45 minutes long instead of 18, the President would be accused of being too professorial. If he looked mean or shouted, he would be criticized for that instead of being criticized for being calm, careful and thoughtful.

Remember folks, media jabbers like Mr. Robinson have no responsibility for what they say. And, remember, too, that Mr. Robinson and his fellow jabbers have NOT proposed a damn thing with respect to leak stoppage and restoration.

The President has taken responsibility. He demonstrated this again last night.

For anyone who may wonder, "What's it like to be in President Obama's shoes today?"

Think of a really good Little League baseball player trying to compete at the MLB level and there you have it. Or, if you want to make it personal, think of a time when you were really, really sure that you wanted to do a certain thing and you worked really hard to get it and then, when you got where you thought you wanted to be, you start thinking,

"Uh-oh, this isn't anything like I thought it would be. I'm in trouble here."

Mr. Obama is in a heap of trouble. He is out of his league and from the things he said last night, he may be going out of his mind. He's either a fruitcake OR he knows exactly what he's doing. Either way, the U.S.A. will pay a heavy price for Mr. Obama's incompetence and malfeasance.

It makes me sad to think that so many of my fellow-citizens don't see anything wrong with Mr. Obama.

I guess what disappoints me the most about the President's response so far is the fact that he has yet to ask us Americans to do anything. He has Organizing for America perpetually bombarding those of us who supported him during the campaign with solicitations to contribute... to WHAT?

Mr. President: LEAD. Tell your army of potential volunteers what you need us to do to help fight the spill. All the college kids are out on summer vacation, and if you asked them to, I venture that several thousands of them would converge on the coast, ready to help in any way possible. It may be only of marginal utility, but at least it would look like you were serious about getting something done.

What I heard yesterday was discussion about planning to get a plan, and both medium term and long term solutions. But nothing about what to do RIGHT NOW. This is America... the land of instant gratification. If you do not give Americans something to hold onto RIGHT NOW, you've lost us. Sure, fight for a longer term energy policy... that's great... for 10 years from now. But what about today?

I think you are being quite the cynical man that you can be at times, and also critical and a little harsh.

Maybe, there is a reason that Energy Secretary Steven Chu's name has been mentioned so often, as well as his credentials. Have you and other's possibly thought, that Steve Chu is the brains, who is working on the technology, or is figuring out the details that will be necessary to to stop that gusher from flowing.

After all, he is physicist, and the type of work that physicists do is highly complex, and it is not like the type of work that you do every week like writing your little biased cynical "opinion" pieces.

If I were you Eugene, I would broaden my horizon just a little bit and step outside of your world of "political opt-eds" and try to see what could be hidden on the other side of the Mental plane.

Btw, physicists work in various interdisciplinary fields, such as biophysics, chemical physics, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography, and seismology.

Therefore, I am sure Steven Chu may be more highly qualified than many engineers and biologist in coming up with the detailed plans and requirements for plugging that hole; and if you haven't noticed the BP engineers and biologist have not figured it out.

It would be helpful if all of the critics on the left and on the right would spend just 1/10th of the time they are wasting telling us how President Obama is a disappointment and say what their requirements are for him to be considered successful.

We know the answer from the right: Nothing. He is wrong even when he proposes and idea they promoted the minute before.

But what about you, Gene?

It is REALLY counter productive for all these so called allies of the President to devote so much energy to pointing out his flaws. Why is his over all approval lower now? Because his own "friends" complain about him at least as much as his enemies.

You start with an idealized expectation that is barely based in reality and then blame President Obama when he does not fulfill your fantasy.

That is not President Obama's fault. That is your fault. You want him to be Superman. He isn't. DEAL WITH IT.

I am really angry about this. As Popeye says "Enough is too much..." "Your" inability to grow up and live in reality is doing more to kill this presidency than anything the right can dream up.

Now, please, instead of another word about how he did not return you to fantasy island, tell me what it is he is supposed to do to stop your sniping?

Among the areas the article mentions are the oil shale located underneath land in Colorado, Wyoming, and in Utah. These lands are federally protected, but they alone could provide about 200 years worth of oil for the nation. Others mentioned include oil reserves located under Montana and some reserves located on protected lands in Texas, California, Utah, and Kentucky.

200+ years of reserves without importing a drop. Eco-nuts and chicken littles want you to believe we have no oil worth getting, and that oil is evil. idiots.

Supporters of failed oilman Bush and "drill, baby, drill" Palin and the whole GOP--slaves to the oil lobby--have ZERO credibility on this issue . . .

Where are your solutions, critics? Why are you acting like it's the president's fault instead of BP's? What are you doing about your own oil addiction? You're simply choking on the same old racist hatred.

TO: cruiszn who wrote:
“CLEARLY OBAMA NEEDS TO DON A WETSUIT AND PLUG THE HOLE WITH HIS FINGER…”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Republicans are saying just the opposite:
They saw President Obama with a wet suit, some scuba gear, and a drill in his hand just before the well blew, that’s why all of this is President Obama’s fault.

Republicans are saying just the opposite:
They saw President Obama with a wet suit, some scuba gear, and a drill in his hand just before the well blew, that’s why all of this is President Obama’s fault.

Posted by: lindalovejones

It is the lack of ability to get the oil experts and ecological disaster response teams from AROUND THE WORLD together to stop the IMPACT, that this buffoon is to be blamed for. His inability, or his reluctance, to react to crisis is what his problem is. Ineffective leadership, driven by leftist liberal agendas. Pure incompetence, or indifference AFTER the fact.

This Eugene Robinson guy is obviously a gun-toting, Bible thumping, racist hater. It is odd that he shares the same name as a notorious Left wing moonbat who used to write lick spittle love notes to Present Øbama on these same WaPo pages.

TO: LdSentinal who wrote:
“Please, the only racist is Obama. He's too busy watching NBA games and playing golf than saving millions in wildlife from being killed.
Obama is an incompetent chimp, who is in way over his head. Teleprompter-in-Chief needs a brain ASAP.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I think you’re being call a “racist” because you don’t have any legitimate reason to blame the Gulf Oil Spill on President Obama when it was Halliburton, BP and Trans Ocean that caused the spill.

As for saving the wildlife: Since when did Republicans become concerned about wildlife? I recall with Bush was running for president, they nearly laughed themselves crazy just to think of “wildlife preserves”. I even saw one republican who was told a certain bird was being preserved in a certain area of the forest so he went got his rifle.

All I ask of President Obama is not make ME or we American Taxpayers pay to clean up BP’s mess when BP has billions of dollars of their own to pay for it.

Now here come the Republicans DEMANDING that the American Taxpayer pay for this clean up.

That’s why you’re being called a “racist”, because just a couple weeks ago Republicans were calling for a spending freeze, now you American Taxpayer money AGAIN!

Wow! Someone else in the MSM is now admitting our Fraud in Chief has no substance!!!! As for the "Nobel Prize Winner" designation, just look at Al Gore and The Obamanation!!!! The WH needs to re-think that entire scenario.

Well folks, it is now 3:00 AM - the red phone in the WH is ringing off the wall regarding deficits, egregious spending, healthcare, joblessness, the economy, Afghanistan, corruption, and the Gulf oil crises......and there is no one to answer that has a clue.....just a hubris, delusional fool.

Mr. Robinson, when using Wikipedia for your fact-checking make sure you read the entire article.

Steven Chu was chosen not because of his knowledge of fossil fuels or oil rigs. True, his background is in physics but his work is primarily in the research for alternative fuels--a part of President Obama's energy agenda.

We will need the best scientists and engineers to solve the problem in the Gulf, and Steven Chu heads this list. This was why his name was being given emphasis by the administration.

I'm pretty sure he didn't mention a "plan" for stopping the oil because there isn't one--aside from waiting for the relief wells to be drilled. And there isn't one because for 40 years Big Oil has spent all their R&D money learning how to drill deeper and faster and not one red dime developing techniques/equipment for dealing with "accidents." At this point I'm not sure there is anything to be "done," exactly, about the leak itself.

I wish I thought we/they would learn a real lesson from this, but...nobody learned after Ixtoc, so...I'm not optimistic. It's depressing as all get-out.

An executive 'executes'. They get things done. Frankly, I am underwhelmed at the level of incompetence of the last two Presidents.

Getting legislation passed is not the prime objective of our President. That is the primary objective of our legislature (CIVICS 101 for those of you who are going to point to healthcare, etc).

It is in implementation and execution that one will be judged upon.

Anyone, AnyOne, ANYONE should have learned from Katrina that you need to ACT. The current administration learned NOTHING from Katrina.

Both the Netherlands and the UK offered thousands of miles of booms within a week of the oil rig explosion. The response from the White House came last week. I am fuming over this....the wetland marshes of Louisiana and Texas could have been cordoned off within the first 3 weeks of the disaster. No leadership on this one...just someone ready to file a lawsuit. Lawsuits do not fix the problem...

The constant touting of Mr. Chu's meaningless unrelated credentials demonstrate something else that's a characteristic of this administration--they're elitist. While Mr. O's socioeconomic roots are humble, his intellectual pedigree is blue-blooded, ivory tower elitist through and through. This aspect of his character comes out in instances likes this. As if to tell the ignorant American people "see, we're really smart, much smarter than you, and have tons of accolades, so we must know what we're doing!" This shows poor leadership in two ways: 1) it demonstrates a disconnect between the American people's interest and this admin's focus in that no one gives a rat's behind about credentials, they want results; and 2) it most likely clouds O's ability to realistically assess a person's merits. Bottom line is that our president is totally out of his depth. He should have stayed in academia.

As if he was actively trying to comform to the stereotype of himself, obama took a situation demanding an demonstration of baseline competence into an opportunity to lay out a gauzy, overpromising "transformative" vision that has more connection to poll-tested messaging than actual reality.

people are worried about the oil leaking and making landfall, not whether their next car is going to be powered by gasoline or switch grass.

TO: cruiszn who wrote:
“Compared to the TRILLIONS of barrels we have on American soil, this is a small well. When you whacks decided that ANWAR only produced 30,000 barrels a day, it wasn't worth the effort, remember?”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Whatever psycho. If it were up to me we wouldn’t be drilling offshore, but you can thank Bobby Jindal for approving Halliburton to drill in the Gulf.

If there are “TRILLIONS of barrels on American soil” you need to call somebody and tell them where it is.

If anything it makes you look like the dirty trailer trash that you are and we cannot have trailer trash running our government. Can we?

Posted by: lcarter0311

who do you think is running this country now??? Tax cheats, marxists, and frauds. Your boy 0bama didn't even pay his parking tickets until he got the presidential nomination! Affirmative action is how we got the clown-in-chief, and trailer trash voters. 0bama's main support is from those who earn $24,000 and less, right now. Those who require government just to survive - HIS VOTERS! Idiot. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67763

Stop talking about energy policy and fix the stupid leak! Who cares what my car runs on in 10 years! I don't want to hear about it! This is not a theoretical discusion! This is not an abstract concept! This is a realy dificult problem that needs to be tackled now!

Posted by: phntsm | June 16, 2010 11:46 AM

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Fix the problem before you start blaming people and talking about the future is Leadership 101. But since Obama's first real job in his life is being President I'm not surprised he wouldn't know that.
*******************************************

The problem with your comment is that capping broken oil wells and cleaning up oil spills created by private companies ISN'T in the President's job description. Providing leadership and policies for the future is. So trying to create policies that get us off our oil addiction as much as possible IS what he should be doing now, even if it will take years to get there. Because without the right policies, we'll never get there and future spills are inevitable.

"it echoes the tangential but confidently presented argument they made that obama was qualified to be president."

Mr. Obama himself cited the management of his campaign as his chief qualification for office. Now think about that: running for the office is one's chief qualification for that very office. It belongs in Catch-22. Interetingly, he also excoriated the previous administration (rightly) for mishandling Katrina. Such delicious irony.

Eugene, Eugene, you're being lied to and misled again. Obama is dangling bright shining things like alternative energy production to get you to look away from the disaster and his incompetence. But he was doing the exact same thing during the campaign.

Remember the Greek columns? Now like, Greece itself, they represent Greek tragedy. Remember that throne Obama sat on with the fake presidential seal: "vero possumus?" I would look at the kool-aid glaze the eyes of liberals and think: They can't see they're getting conned. Frankly, it was shocking to see my fellow citizens so

Eugene, you knew he had
No executive leadership experience,
No economic experience,
No military experience,
No business experience,
No energy experience,
No health care experience,
No foreign policy experience, and
No foreign trade experience.

And one of the scariest things is that our ENEMIES know this too.

They also know that this gusher can't be stopped. Industry insiders say the problem lies 1000 ft below the ocean floor.

BTW, Obama received more money from BP than any other politican. BTW, Palin has a few ideas for the president because, remember, she dealt with these oil guys for years, holding them accountable, getting concessions, verifying their public claims. We'd be much better off with her in the VP office right now.

Whatever psycho. If it were up to me we wouldn’t be drilling offshore, but you can thank Bobby Jindal for approving Halliburton to drill in the Gulf.

If there are “TRILLIONS of barrels on American soil” you need to call somebody and tell them where it is.

Posted by: lindalovejones

Bobby Jindal had no authority to authorize any drilling in the Gulf. It is the bloated and corrupt federal government. The same government idiots like you want more of. Thank you 0bama, may I have another?! Drink deep from the kool-aid cup. Reality is no place for dummies.

"1) it demonstrates a disconnect between the American people's interest and this admin's focus in that no one gives a rat's behind about credentials, they want results; and 2) it most likely clouds O's ability to realistically assess a person's merits."

How else will "O" assess a person's merits--a neighbor's recommendation, a lottery, rock-paper-scissors?

True we want results. But we want results born out of analysis and rational thought, and not the shoot-from-the hip results typical of the last president we had. I'm really glad we finally have an adult back in the White House.

It might as well be Apollo 13 all over again. What is the Prez' supposed to do about it?
Hold Mr. Hayward's hand as BP shares start to make Kaa-mart shares seem like a real smart buy?

Posted by: deepthroat21 | June 16, 2010 12:01 PM

===========================================

If you watch the movie Apollo 13 you can note the contrast between Obama and Ed Harris' character. Did the Flight Director talk incessantly, point fingers and yelled that he was going to kick some ass? Not at all. He kept everyone calm and focused, guided the best minds for a solution, and cheered when it was over.

"The problem with your comment is that capping broken oil wells and cleaning up oil spills created by private companies ISN'T in the President's job description. Providing leadership and policies for the future is."

Actually his job description is to enforce the laws of the land. The administration failed to do so PRIOR to this spill.

As an ardent supporter of the President, I don't get it. Why hasn't he put together a task force of the best engineers in the world and taken aggressive actions to plug the spill? It sounds like a situation where outside the box thinking is needed, but I have a hard time believing that it would take more than a few days to cap this thing. If the best minds on the planet can't fix this, please tell me why!!!

If anything it makes you look like the dirty trailer trash that you are and we cannot have trailer trash running our government. Can we?

Posted by: lcarter0311

who do you think is running this country now??? Tax cheats, marxists, and frauds. Your boy 0bama didn't even pay his parking tickets until he got the presidential nomination! Affirmative action is how we got the clown-in-chief, and trailer trash voters. 0bama's main support is from those who earn $24,000 and less, right now. Those who require government just to survive - HIS VOTERS! Idiot. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67763

Posted by: cruiszn |

~~~

I wrote a response back to you. Fortunately for you, you should be thankful that WAPO held it.

Perhaps he could start with the basic criteria of a) ability, b) leadership, c) competence, d) experience, should I go on? This is how CEO's, military leaders, great administrators handle personnel issues. Did you know that the previous director of MMS, Liz Birnbaum, was a Harvard Law grad and a member of the Law Review editorial board? So qualified, and wow, just happens to have attended the same hyper-prestigious law school and be a member of the Law Review. She was chosen for pure ability, I'm sure.

"True we want results. But we want results born out of analysis and rational thought, and not the shoot-from-the hip results typical of the last president we had. I'm really glad we finally have an adult back in the White House."

An adult? You're clearly too young to remember Reagan, when we had a real adult in the White House, who didn't blame every little thing on someone else (BP? Bush? Bullying cops? Israel?) Anyway, like all knee-jerk liberals, you've cited the last admin. Well, guess what--I didn't and I won't defend them. They were incompetent fools. We just replaced them with another brand of incompetent fool. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Sorry Mr. Robinson, but America itself has dissapointed me from the time I was born...but thats a whole 'nutha story.

Obama has opened my eyes to the fact that while many claim that certain members of the minority communities in America (Blacks, Hispanics in particular) are just looking for handouts, the first thing these same people scream when something happens is as handout. "I want money!"
- The "heroes" of 9/11 are still hashing out a payday
-This oil spill has been all about the $$$.
-The country was on the brink of sinking when he bailed out billionaires.

Several weeks ago, Steven Chu told Rachel Maddow on her show that when it came to the oil gusher, he ONLY KNEW WHAT HE SAW ON TV.

Let THAT sink in.

Clearly, Obama's reliance on this guy is totally misplaced...but then what would you expect from the man who chose Ken Salazar as head of DOI?

Obama's speech last night was as superficial and shallow as it gets. In the end, his "solution" was a laughably tragic cop out - prayer. I've long since thought of Obama as an empty suit but last night I thought I was watching Fred Armisen impersonating Obama.

While everyone in america is hunkering down dealing with the "new reality," Obama is busy peddling Rube Goldberg Liberal la La Land programs, and, once again, trying to stick his hand into my pocket. I am beginning to believe this white house to be totally tone deaf and blind. Fix the leak and stop spending money. Cap and trade didn't work in Europe. The Chinese and Indians will not sign up. Wind mills are not going to solve our energy problem. And noble prize winners should be kept away from anything that requires pragmatic solutions.

Obama doesn't understand the difference between being a leader and being a ceo. Unfortunately, he, Axelrod, Emmanuel, and company have also become out of touch, and so engaged in testing the political winds, and working the inside game that they have lost momentum, effectiveness and opportunities for much needed reform. Hopefully, they will soon realize that significant changes need to be made at the white house.

Obama said everything that should have been said … Americans just need to start acting like grownups, and stop acting like an infant that doesn’t want to be weened off the bottle … he’s the POTUS, not our daddy … everybody knows what they should do, but they keep filling up their cars and complaining about the price of gas … they want a sound economy, but don’t want to be inconvienced in the least … and our elected officials placate them with words that say we shouldn’t have to change our way of life … every time I see an SUV going down the street with only one person in it I wonder if the driver realizes how much he’s contributing to the destruction of this country … Americans love to make excuses … that’s about all we make and export now … when Obama said we send over a billion a day out of this country just for oil, everybody should have realized what they can do for their country … stop buying gas … walk, bike, take public transportation … but no they’d rather whine that the President isn’t doing enough while they sit on their ever-increasing asses, watching mind-numbing reality TV, drinking their Dunkin’ and eating their fatty Micky-D’s burgers … in these trying times remember, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem …

I don't understand being endlessly perplexed by what (or not) obama does or what he says. let's remember - this guy has absolutely no experience in almost anything except campaigning to far left-wingers, is shockingly ignorant on so many important topics or depth of knowledge very shallow, is an amateur/untested politician, but is presumed to be "smart" because he went to big-name schools.

but take an intelligent guy, that drives a garbage truck, make him u.s. prez where he comes to the realization he's not as smart as he thought and realizes he's utterly unprepared in even basic ways. what I see of obama is what I think I'd see of this garbage truck driver.

he knows he's in over his head and is self-conscious about it. what better way to allay the fear that the public perceives the same deficiency than touting all the brainiacs around him? iow "I have no idea what I'm doing but you can take comfort in the fact I found some propeller-heads to be on my team". or "I'll start a commission to check this out so no worries".

the garbage truck driver doesn't know anything about substance and communicating details for one reason - he doesn't know anything except what he believes. those who accept but don't understand their beliefs *never* try to persuade rather engage in name-calling, circular arguments or just throw tantrums when confronted with pushback. sound like anyone we know? I'm not at all surprised a person of this sort repeatedly farms out the details of his beliefs to others such as congress to write for them.

or compare the obscenely basic political skills between the two. the garbage truck driver doesn't know the first thing about oil wells so instead of addressing that, he can only fall back on his ideology: "oil spill = we need clean energy". iow his ideological beliefs have to be coupled to any event because he has no idea how to deal with the event itself.

when one considers how obama performs compared to their intelligent next-door neighbor as u.s. prez, everything obama does, does not do, says or does not say should be understandable in context.

Eugene. That's what we've been asking all along, only to be branded racist for questioning The Chosen One.

By the way, I think you mean to say "addiction" ("... America’s ruinous addition to oil"), but while we're being reasonable, let's admit we need oil and stop demonizing it. It's going to be a long while before alternatives are ready to shoulder oil's load.

Eugene. That's what we've been asking all along, only to be branded racist for questioning The Chosen One.

By the way, I think you mean to say "addiction" ("... America’s ruinous addition to oil"), but while we're being reasonable, let's admit we need oil and stop demonizing it. It's going to be a long while before alternatives are ready to shoulder oil's load.

Exactly what kind of plan did you want Obama to present? What exactly is he supposed to do? I've got a friend who lives on the coast of La. who tells me that the water is swarming with boats of all kinds, booms strewn about everywhere, etc. What else is Obama supposed to do...send in the Sixth Fleet? The truth is that there is NO dramatic gesture that he or anyone else could make that would improve the situation, so no, Mr. Robinson, there was not going to be a "bold new plan" or whatever it was you were expecting, to stop the leak and clean it up. Jeez...I'm so sick of commentators who seemingly have the emotional maturity of twelve-year-olds!

Obama and some of his advisors, by speaking so often of Chu's Nobel prize, may be trying to indirectly remind us of Obama's peace prize awarded by the Norway committee of five. Obama's speech was almost entirely political, a response to his declining approval ratings in his administration's handling of the oil spill.

A speech lacking in specifics and having platitudes, hardly new, about new sources of energy will only please the unthinking partisans or apologists for the administration. Unfortunately Obama lacks the political and moral courage to seek a true comprehensive energy policy.

The WAPO has a habit of not allowing my post to come through or they will delete them. They don't always think I play nice with ignorant people, such as your self.

Posted by: lcarter0311

I hear that facts don't matter at all and infantile rants are what they cater to. Check 'em out. You'll fit right in. Just remember: It's Bush' fault, and Palin is a Wasilla hick! Say tea bagger a lot and dont forget to sprinkle the word "Halliburton" in as much as possible.

What I have observed is that intellectuals, most especially liberal ones, can spend hours, days, - lifetimes- discussing an issue. when they finally come to a decision they act like they have solved the problem and they move on to the next.

I find that they very rarely need to go beyond the intellctualizing about it to feel a sense of satisfaction and completion.

this is Obama in a nutshell, there is no action, just the thought process.

The problem with your comment is that capping broken oil wells and cleaning up oil spills created by private companies ISN'T in the President's job description. Providing leadership and policies for the future is. So trying to create policies that get us off our oil addiction as much as possible IS what he should be doing now, even if it will take years to get there. Because without the right policies, we'll never get there and future spills are inevitable.

Posted by: WK437 | June 16, 2010 12:59 PM

===================================

I'm all for finding long-term policies to wean us off oil, but talking about future policies now is not only putting the cart before the horse it also looks like he's taking advantage of the situation to push unpopular legislation.

Now The media is complaining that Pres. Obama touts Dr. Chu's Nobel Prize? The talking heads have officially reached the level of insanity. The negative comments from most of the commenters here are typical of Washington Post responders concerning Pres. Obama, but the level of inanity and insanity from the media is very troubling. Maybe the President is trying to teach the nation a lesson the talking class has yet to grasp, and that lesson is: GROW UP !!!

The only way to get Americans to stop consuming oil is to tax it. Not just a little bit, but tax it a lot. When gas is 10 bucks a gallon, guess how much gas Americans will use? They will innovate like crazy and in 10 years we will be off fossil fuels. It is the only way to do it. Obama should have announced a Carbon Tax, but he didn't and he won't. He just does not have the courage to do that. He lacks the leadership, which is very sad, but I fear it is true.
------------------------------------------

And in doing so now you will crush the economy. The price of oil won't just go up but the price of EVERYTHING you buy will go up. Every single thing.

And in doing so you will make US manufacturing even less competitive on the world market which will lead to even more jobs being outsourced. Taxing the US only will do no good. We have to wait untill oil becomes scarce enough (and expensive enough) that it makes economic sense to go to alternative power sources.

In the meantime we are stuck using the extremely cheap and plentiful fossil fuels.

Is he going to capped this oil spew? I'm sure that his credentials are top-flight; however, why don't we concentrate on getting the job done through the many volunteers, scientists, engineers, foot soldiers, etc. as well as Dr. Chu.

I can guarantee you that Dr. Chu will not cap this well. Calling upon his name adds little value towards meeting this crisis head on.

The WAPO has a habit of not allowing my post to come through or they will delete them. They don't always think I play nice with ignorant people, such as your self.

Posted by: lcarter0311

So, you are saying you post a lot of infantile rants? Or you get so fuddled up you can't help but spew profanity? You know that is the sign of a weak intellectual mind? Those that can't formulate an argument or use facts often resort to name calling and adhominem attacks. It's been the liberal play book for decades.

The WAPO has a habit of not allowing my post to come through or they will delete them. They don't always think I play nice with ignorant people, such as your self.

Posted by: lcarter0311

So, you are saying you post a lot of infantile rants? Or you get so fuddled up you can't help but spew profanity? You know that is the sign of a weak intellectual mind? Those that can't formulate an argument or use facts often resort to name calling and adhominem attacks. It's been the liberal play book for decades.

Learn to speak and articulate an argument, Cupcake. Become less afraid of facts. Facts are your friend.

Mr. Robinson is being too hard on Presidemt Obama.
It's very difficult to give a good speech, if
- you know nothing about the subject,
- you don't really care about the subject
- you have nothing new to say.

Under these circumstances, Persident Obama did a credible job reading his speech.

The criticism should go to the advisers who thought doing this speech was a good idea.

It looked like someone decided they needed to get the President on TV, but it had to be in a forum where those pesky reporters can't ask questions the President can't answer.

Obama is the (clumsy) racist. He "disappoints" the likes of Robinson, Rev.Al, Jesse, & Farrakhan. Their homeboy is outed as the amateur poseur he's always been. Besides, it's BUSH's fault. Obama, Sortero, Barry, Hussein, or, whatever, RESIGN. You can't fool all the people all the time.

Mr. Robinson- I am neither a fan of yours or a fan of the way President Obama's Administration is dealing with this oil spill(I live in Louisiana)- but as I watch the series of events that this president has had to tackle - I am just amazed at his stamina and true grit. I admired Hillary Clinton for the way she withstood criticism when her husband cheated in front of the world and humiliated her, but as I look at the last year, I do not believe that she could have performed well in these trying times; nor do I believe that McCain could have had the energy and the stamina to handle these type crises!
The criticism is expected from those who shared a dislike for Barrack Obama- but the kind of criticism that I am witnesing now, coming from his supporters is sickening. The comments and critques now say a lot about the American people; I sure as heck would not want to go in a battle with people like you,as soon as things got tough, I would look around for you and you would be gone, and all that would remain would be dust!
You have disappointed me from the first line of your comments. Sometimes you just need to shut up -go have a beer and eat some pretzels!
PS - just because Keith Oberman or Rachel Maddow take issue with something that the President says or does - it doesnt mean that you have to follow like a little puppy. Man Up!

BP just agreed to a $20 Billion escrow to help pay for the damaged caused by the oil spill. Would an incompetent leader be able to pull this off? Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney and company would have negotiated behind closed doors and come out saying the Federal government would help foot the bill so as not to burden the private sector whose businesses our jobs depend on.

3rd paragraph was wonderful - it's a keeper. Substance? Does anyone expect substance? BP has no plans, why should the President or anyone else? No defense of the President/administration, but the horse has been out of the barn far too long. Frankly, even environmental researchers are struggling to grasp the seriousness of this catastrophe - besides it's bad and the impact will be profound and long lasting.

We (as humans) generally way underestimate the effects of such events (and their likelihood of happening) and way overestimate our ability to respond. That's why the $20B will be insufficient.

Being the pessimistic person that I am - expected nothing from the President on this one. Oh, doesn't he have a Nobel as well?

The American people have 20 Billion reasons to thank President Obama for his quick action in the gulf oil leak disaster.
No other president has ever gotten an internantional company to set aside such a large amount of funds for damage claims. Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43, should have made Exxon pay it's fair share for the spill in Alaska, but they never did.
For those who want to knock the President, please realize that we do not have the equipment the expertise or the training to cap this well.That is the responsibility of British Petroleum. But we do have a response for the cleanup underway and $20,000,000,000.00 billion in the bank to help restore the region and help those affected make it through.
Thank you President Obama, for again showing that tough words do not take the place of real action. In other words cash talks and b.s. walks.

Thank you President Obama, for again showing that tough words do not take the place of real action. In other words cash talks and b.s. walks.

Posted by: challuch

typical idiot. Judge 0bama not on what he has accomplished, but rather what he tries to accomplish. The oil still leaks, the beaches are still fouling, and the cheerleader challuch can't wait to sing 0bama's praises as if the mess is fixed. Idiot. Liberals: judge us by our intentions, not the outcomes. Idiot.

"It's odd how the Omaba haters all are now criticizing him for not doing enough, when they themselves keep clamoring for less gummint. You can't have it both ways ayholes."

This is the biggest straw man argument ever. Even committed "limited government" advocates wouldn't contest the idea that the federal government should have the power and authority to clean up an environmental disaster. The idea is that the feds have a limited sphere of influence, only to be invoked when constitutionally permitted, but especially when "race to the bottom" problem of negative externalities. Thus, massive environmental damage to four states and an entire region would invoke a federal response, even if you believed in a limited federal sphere. Saying either you support a big government or you don't creates a false dichotomy and misses the point.

The part that bothers me is they seem to be going for a dramatic play when that is not what is warranted. In all probability this thing will continue to leak at maximum volume until say September when the relief wells relieve the pressure. Rather than admitting that and trying to capture as much of the leaking oil as humanly possible they keep wasting time going for junk shots and caps and this and that. They should start pumping enormous volumes of water from the source of the spill to barges on the surface with centerfuge seperators and then sending the separated oil to tankers on site. True it's admitting that it's a bad situation and admitting defeat in that there is no way to magically turn it off but at least it would help. Maybe the real problem is it's also expensive. I don;t know but it seems someone should make a decision here.

Wow. It's always easy to tell who has taken a leave of the Obama brand Kool-Aid. The Great One could go to war for no particular reason, oversee the destruction of the environment, kill the economy and yet there are still millions who would defend this guy with their last keystroke. Glad to see Eugene to a break to be objective. As for the rest of you that are unable to participate in rational thought I want to wish you the best.

cruiszn: "who do you think is running this country now??? Tax cheats, marxists, and frauds."

You are wrong. Bush left office 01/20/09 and took his draft dodging VP with him - only no one told 'Ol Dick he was an ex. He keeps popping up in the media being all graceless and angry like a true blue gop.

I love that you are posting here so no one can have any question about what the tea party is all about - racism, elitism and extreme selfishness.

The only one here who does not see how vapid you are is you.

So go ahead and throw around your infantile trash. You are just keeping it real for the rest of us.

I voted enthusiastically for President Obama. Now I say, Enough with your soaring rhetoric. We want fewer words, more and faster, broader and more powerful, focused action. This applies to the Gulf tragedy and to other pressing issues. Mr. President, you can't talk your way out of this.

It is pretty obvious that Americans don't like to remember that we were given a warning, a choice to break our oil addiction back in the late '70"s. No rehab for us, though. Throw the bum out and get someone who would not tell us what our future would be like if we kept consuming (and profiting). Live for today-screw the future generations! Well, the future now is upon us and even when we eventually get this well under control, it won't be the last. We are decades behind where we should be and it will be an unpleasant journey from here. We are going to have to fess up. We brought ourselves to this point and blaming the current president on our sad condition only makes us feel better. We are looking for scapegoats, not leadership. Throwing a collective fit and shaking our fists angrily won't fix this. The best minds are working on it; the clean-up will occur despite the damage. All to no avail if we keep consuming at the same rate. It starts with each of us, a mindset to reduce our own consumption and empower our leaders to offer us safe alternatives in the future. So stop the whining, nation, and get off your collective a**ses. Create solutions within your areas of influence for the future of this country. It will not be, nor has been President Obama ruining what we have in this country. It's been happening for most of my 64 years. Now it's time to pay our tab.

"Obama’s real message was about the need to end America’s ruinous addition to oil."

Who doesn't already know this? The real problem is that nobody is willing to do anything about, least of all the American public. As long as we can pull the SUV into the gas station and fill up for less than $3 per gallon, nothing will change. And please spare me talk about a carbon tax. You'll never get anybody to vote for that. We're in the position that we're in relative to oil in this country because of our lifestyle choices, not because of Obama.

Kenneth Feinberg, 0bama's pay czar, is the "third party" that will take control of BP's 20 billion dollar escrow account. How convenient. Now those hurt by the failure of this administration to act will get to go through 0bama's administration to get their compensation. Wow. Just wow. What does the cheerleader challuch have to say? Sounds like another democrat slush fund just like the "stimulus". Wow hope and change has never looked so good, no, challuch?

Mr Robinson, for the first time I must say that your article is right on! At a time when this nation needs decisive action, we certainly don't need another commision to study the fact that the oil is gushing into the Gulf. We need and demand action.

TOMMYBASEBALL name one tax cheat in Bush's administration. I can name 3 in 0bama's off of the top of my head. Name one marxist mao adorer in Bush's cabinet, or one pedophile. Clown. Take your blind adoration to huffpo, or kos. Whacks are abundant there.

It's hard to be inspiring when you're talking about oil sludge and issues that basically come down to large scale plumbing. Methinks Eugene's expectations were goofy. If anybody here can wax eloquent about cleaning their toilet, please advise.

squid1: "This is the biggest straw man argument ever. Even committed "limited government" advocates wouldn't contest the idea that the federal government should have the power and authority to clean up an environmental disaster. The idea is that the feds have a limited sphere of influence, only to be invoked when constitutionally permitted, but especially when "race to the bottom" problem of negative externalities. Thus, massive environmental damage to four states and an entire region would invoke a federal response, even if you believed in a limited federal sphere. Saying either you support a big government or you don't creates a false dichotomy and misses the point."

___________________________________________

Curious...

So preventing a business from discriminating against 15% of the population, assuming the discrimination is limited to one race, which can lead to severe economic impact to given states (just why did the "Stars and Bars" disappear from some state flags? "Goodness of their hearts" or the economic boycotts?) is intrusive but the federal government is supposed to intervene in the Gulf?

If we had the limited federal government you advocate HOW WOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THE GULF CRISIS??????

The disaster in the Gulf will require significant resources to "clean up [the] environmental disaster". To advocate for a limited government and the associated limited taxes, etc and then demand it be able to "clean up an environmental disaster" (for instance) makes no sense.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you want a limited government which would then be, by definition, limited or you want a strong federal government - the very thing you argue against.

You should spend a little time studying US history during the Articles of Confederation. The reason we have a strong federal government is because of the chaos the limited government allowed under the Articles.

And clowns like you still think the draft dodger serial adulterer, accused rapist, impeached president, BJ Clinton should be speaking on America's behalf, no? All that community organizing skill is doing wonders for Barry right now, too, huh, genius? Or that the anti-Semite peanut farmer is still relevant?

Never agree with your politics or social philosophy but you are the most honest journalist of the Washington Post. I try to read Dionne first so I can get a real slice of partisan stupidity then I read you to get a more sober flavor of the other side. Obama is losing all but his most devoted followers - i.e. Dionne can spin magic with his words of love. At least you are realistic and have some common sense. Maybe you should dig a bit deeper and realize all this socialism really is bad for this country.

It just came to me, now I know why the liberal media have been beating up on the president; they want the return of the Bush Bravado and GOP Competence we've enjoyed during the past ten years. I get it now!

"So preventing a business from discriminating against 15% of the population, assuming the discrimination is limited to one race, which can lead to severe economic impact to given states (just why did the "Stars and Bars" disappear from some state flags? "Goodness of their hearts" or the economic boycotts?) is intrusive but the federal government is supposed to intervene in the Gulf?"

May I ask what you're speaking of? The only person I know of who would subscribe to such a ludicrous theory is Rand Paul, who hardly speaks for the majority of limited govt. advocates. Again, you've created a straw man by knocking down an incredibly radical opinion. Read George Will to get a better sense of what limited goverment types think.

"If we had the limited federal government you advocate HOW WOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THE GULF CRISIS??????"

Read my first post. The federal govt. serves a vital role in our system. One of its roles is preventing and responding to massive disasters. This is not contrary to limited govt thought. In fact, it fits in nicely with the idea that the feds should regulate instances where there are massive externalities.

"The disaster in the Gulf will require significant resources to "clean up [the] environmental disaster". To advocate for a limited government and the associated limited taxes, etc and then demand it be able to "clean up an environmental disaster" (for instance) makes no sense."

It makes total sense. You're just choosing not to (or aren't able to) see a subtle distinction. We're not talking about the scope of the federal government here. That's a separate issue. We're talking about the effectiveness of the response of govt. Very few people, even limited govt. types like myself, believe that the feds should stay out of disaster relief. Disaster prevention and relief is precisely the kind of thing the feds should be involved in!

"You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you want a limited government which would then be, by definition, limited or you want a strong federal government - the very thing you argue against."

FALSE DICHOTOMY. Look it up. You can have a strong federal government that's limited in scope. They are not mutually exclusive.

"You should spend a little time studying US history during the Articles of Confederation. The reason we have a strong federal government is because of the chaos the limited government allowed under the Articles."

It just came to me, now I know why the liberal media have been beating up on the president; they want the return of the Bush Bravado and GOP Competence we've enjoyed during the past ten years. I get it now!

You should spend a little time studying US history during the Articles of Confederation. The reason we have a strong federal government is because of the chaos the limited government allowed under the Articles.

Posted by: TOMMYBASEBALL

Maybe you should read the Federalist papers and see what our founders thought of Federalism (James Madison, in Federalist 43 or Hamilton’s Federalist essay 59 in particular) and see how far this clown 0bama wants to deviate from that construct of the Constitution. Google Mr. 0bama's speech to hear him whine about what the Constitution does not allow government to "DO TO US".Look to the year 1913 and see which Amendment dealt a blow to the Federalism so carefully crafted into the document. Limited government would have taken care of the mess 0bama has let occur in weeks, not months, as his goal is to take control with an overreaching, unlimited, Federal government WHICH OUR FOUNDERS WERE ADAMANTLY AGAINST.

It just came to me, now I know why the liberal media have been beating up on the president; they want the return of the Bush Bravado and GOP Competence we've enjoyed during the past ten years. I get it now!

Posted by: october30
By contrast to this clown, even an idiot can see it, huh?

I am disappointed that the Pulitizer Prize winning journalist is disappointed by the President of the United States referring to Dr. Chu's credentials. I have never heard you disavow your credentials when introduced to the public. I am dismayed by the pundit class in their attempts to take down our ex-senator and now the President of the United States. These pundits do not have the intelligence or the sophistication to understand complex technical manufacturing processes that is required to operate in the environment of the Gulf of Mexico. Did you and Chris, Keith, Rachel and Fineman know that humans, cold rolled steel, hot rolled steel can not operate in that environment. That is why we have technology in Allen Bradley controlled to operate robotic arms to implement the operational plans of the schematics. You and your ilk do the public a disservice to mislead the public that all it takes is for the President to demand that BP does it job and the leak would be plugged. I am a witness that robotic technology is not repeatable and does not consistently work on the plant floor in the assembly process of producing automobiles.

So please educate yourself and your readers that this is hard. The President and his people are doing all they can to get this thing done.

Sorry, Eugene, but Obama is the same person whom you praised daily during 2008. By contrast, you bashed Hillary Clinton as a spiteful weasel, whose time had passed. I wish you had clarity then. Too late.

Can this be? Eugene Robinson is not shilling for Obama? Has he finally been hit "upside the head" with the proverbial 2X4? But he is right, no petroleum engineers, no geologists, no one experienced in oil drilling. Instead we get the 1979 Jimmy Carter Malaise speech redux.

To all of you 0bama loving lapdogs, and that includes you, Eugene, you should look up some Chris Christie utube and see what a real leader and statesman looks like. Your boy could only hope to have half the cajones this true leader has. If the boy wonder could sense the integrity and honor this man has, he'd wet himself. If Barry found himself within 10 feet of a true leader like Christie, he'd wet himself.

I am so sick and tired of Obama apologists crying "what else do you expect Obama to do?" Your vision is as small as his. The POTUS has virtually unlimited resources available to him. He can pick up the phone and call anyone in the civilized world, and they will take his call and advise him. He has the public service, the military and the National Guard at his disposal, vast executive powers and the potential to inspire the entire nation to pitch in and help. His job is NOT to plug the leak himself, but to lead the response to it, bringing in resources to clarify what is needed, and clearing the way where necessary (eg Jones Act) to get it all done. Instead he spurns offers of information and help, ignores the pleas of the governors, listens to college professors and Nobel prize (in physics!) winners and, between all those golf games and parties, engages in the only thing he knows how to do: the blame game.

You guys are sure paying big time for your momentary lapse into insanity last election. After all the claims of Sarah Palin's incompetence, isn't it ironic that Obama's biggest failure happens to be in her area of expertise?

Gene, just a note on your fact-checking. Paul Krugman DID NOT win a Nobel Prize; rather he was awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Check the official Nobel web site and you'll notice the absence of the modifier "Nobel" in front of the word Prize. You'll also notice this award was only established in 1968, coincidently timed with a large contribution from the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank). So if the WaPo pays you enough money, you too can fund your own ersatz award for your cronies.

The speech was unnecessary, but in the same vein so is the endless babbling by the press, the endless "I can fix it" garbage by assorted Republican airheads, and this absurd belief that somehow the President can fix what is really a technical disaster 15,000 feet below the surface of the sea. You can't just start throwing everything but the kitchen sink to a problem. You start with solution A, and if that doesn't work, you move to B, and so on and so forth, which is exactly what BP and the government have been doing. Right now, all the White House can do is to ensure that BP pays up. And they've done it. And then make sure that the nefarious MMS is rid of its Bush and Cheney cronies who rid the agency of its enforcement and inspection duties. Oh, and take the political fall in those Gulf states that will come with imposing a moratorium on drilling. Screw the Obama haters - they're irrationally deranged, and nothing will change them. My advice to the President is to tell the press to buzz off. They've shown their infantilism by their repeated calls for more anger, a more furrowed brow, more action words by the President.

At the end of the day, 0bama and liberals like him have forced Americans to question our greatness and feel ashamed that we burn oil. Energy, if the government controls it, is all this government wants. With all of the Nation's energy in their hand, they have ALL the power. This is their grab. We have 300 years of Petroleum products under our feet! But those in power know that it is their ace in the hole for control, always. These reserves are the property of this Nation's citizens, and does not belong to the federal government. Energy IS power, not BP's billions.

Eugene,
In all sincerity, your heart sank because reality is finally clearing the fog and debris. What about this Presidents background ever gave you the belief he was an executive or leader? His voting record as a State Senator, or as U.S. Senator? His campaign was excellent, but, you have to admit,he was not subjected to anywhere near the cynicism and investigative reporting of any previous American Presidential candidate. Indeed, a strong argument can be made the MSM actually protected and proffered Obama thereby denying the American electorate he benefit of disclosure.Face it, Obama was chosen by the owner of the Democratic Party for the most cynical and condescending reasons as verbalized by Joe Biden and Harry Reid. America might as well have John Podesta in the Oval Office there is no difference except Obama could be marketed. Policy, legislation and appointments have been directed by the Center for American Progress. George Soros is the puppeteer and his goal of globalism and one world government is this Presidents charge. America senses something is drastically wrong and until now folks such as yourself remained hopefully blinded. Welcome to reality now inhale and eliminate the residual ether.

At the end of the day, 0bama refused offers of help from other nations. He did not reach out to experts in the oil industry from the USA or abroad. He did not reach out to international humanitarian aid and crisis response experts. He waited and hoped.

Gene, just a note on your fact-checking. Paul Krugman DID NOT win a Nobel Prize; rather he was awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. . . So if the WaPo pays you enough money, you too can fund your own ersatz award for your cronies.

Posted by: jpost1
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Grow up. It means the same thing. You're good at googling, and good at making obnoxious and rude allegations. Rational thought? Not that much.

Put a sock in it already buddy. We get it. You hate Obama. You hate liberals.

Now go outside and play.

Posted by: PrattleinSeattle

I've got all three, cupcake. And I do, and I love to sing it to the trees. 0bama is a clown. The entire liberal democrat party is a pall on this country. Liberals never rest. The only thing that can stop you clowns is the US Constitution, which is why you need to destroy it. The fact that you have damaged it this far is why we are where we are today. With an inept marxist in the WH. Thank God he is so inept. The great thing about the US Constitution, is that it is a document to the world. OUR FREEDOM IS GRANTED BY GOD, NOT BY any GOVERNMENT!

Perhaps Obama should have landed a helicopter on the ruins of that oil platform or, if that was not safe enough, on a BP ship in the gulf and, as he stepped off the plane, a huge banner would unfurl, sying, you guessed it, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Let's face it. There isn't much that Obama could do to stop this disaster if anything at all. Oh, yes, he should have reinspected all the regulations and all the oil company procedures in his first year and a half and maybe he would have, IF he did not have an impending Great Depression, two wars, and a host of Republicans thwarting his every initiative.

As for you Obama haters, especially that screwjob guy who keeps saying that Obama is a miserable failure. How soon we forget the last president, you know the one who diddled while Katrina drowned New Orleans, started two wars, one of them completely unnecessary, and left the economy in the worst shape since Herbert Hoover. If Obama is a miserable failure, what would you call Bush? The Anti-Christ?

And screw or nut job or any of you other Obama haters out there, what do you think McCain would be doing if he were elected instead or do you really think that McCain would have audited BP and the other oil companies and prevented this from happening in the first place? Are you kidding? Has someone asked Sara Palin what she would do?

If you can't come up with a better solution than the one we have then it is best to shut up.

At the end of the day, 0bama refused offers of help from other nations. He did not reach out to experts in the oil industry from the USA or abroad. He did not reach out to international humanitarian aid and crisis response experts. He waited and hoped.

I generally don't feed the trolls, but sorry, Sarah Palin, you're wrong again. The nature of this crisis gradually unfolded over time, and the response to it, given all the options, was adequate at the time by both BP and the government, regardless of what whining liberals and irrational, bloviating conservatives may say.

I agree with Mr. Robinson's criticisms, and would add one that is probably even more important: the president failed to prepare Americans for the true enormity of the disaster.

By spreading BP's story about 90% of the oil being containable soon, and the relief wells being drilled by August, Mr. Obama enabled the public to keep denying the cataclysmic nature of what's just happened.

Not only are we seeing an Exxon-Valdez spill every five days, but the damage reports indicate that the leak is unstoppable and will continue for two or three decades. This is not some typical mishap, but rather a disaster of historic proportions.

Millions of people will be moving away from the Gulf Coast, and Florida in particular will find itself in dire straits. This isn't some "oil spill," it's the largest catastrophe the U.S. has ever faced.

People who think Obama looks powerless and ineffectual now have only seen the beginning. Within a year, the effects of this situation are going to test the integrity of American democracy itself.

Really, nyrunnner? The highest compliment you can pay is that at least he's not George Bush?

That's hardly complimentary.

But if McCain was President and screwing up this badly I'd say the same thing. He's an idiot and needs to be tossed out of the WH on his ear.

Not all who dislike Obama are Republicans. And not all like Hillary, either.

This happened on Obama's watch. The second he took the oath he became President; and became responsible from that second on. Who did what to whom and with what blunt object became irrelevant at that point.

Same when Bush took over for Clinton. And for every other President throughout the history of this nation.

The fact is, Obama is a very poor President - and his meeting with BP execs, his address, all this is just staged to distract us from what happened.

What happened is that the President failed. He failed terribly; and the cost of his failure has repercussions for the country that we cannot even comprehend yet.

So he stages this little sideshow for us hoping that we don't notice his failure to act on the spill when it was able to be contained. Unfortunately for him, information is easily available these days and we know he PERSONALLY missed many opportunities to mitigate this disaster.

He didn't. He failed miserably and all of us will pay the price.

If I could use one word to describe Obama it would be this. Dither. He dithers. Because the truth is he's in over his head and is floundering.

TOMMYBOY, Madison 43 spoke to State’s equal suffrage in the Senate. The 17th has much to do with the END OF federalism, which has much do do with the illegitimate 17th Amendment. In Federalist 59, Hamilton goes on to define State suffrage as the State legislatures having a voice in the Senate. The 17th amendment effectively canceled that voice and turned it over to the citizens of the States.

Our Founders did, adamantly, support the concept of federalism and the balance of power between the States and federal government. Thanks for the heads-up on the Wicki-thing, cupcake. I thought all you liberal clowns got your information there.

It is awarded by the same Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and is associated officially with the Nobel Foundation.

You are making a distinction without a difference with your quibble.

Posted by: TOMMYBASEBALL

Three reasons why the Nobel is a joke: Algore, Krugman, and Obama. TOMMYBOY, did the murderous, leftist darling Yassir Arafat get one? 'cuz that would be four reasons. And, can the leftist hero Che Guevara get one posthumously? That could make five.

I generally don't feed the trolls, but sorry, Sarah Palin, you're wrong again. The nature of this crisis gradually unfolded over time, and the response to it, given all the options, was adequate at the time by both BP and the government, regardless of what whining liberals and irrational, bloviating conservatives may say.

Not that it's a surprise, but the partisan nature of the comments here is revealing. It shows that most people have failed to grasp the cataclysmic dimensions of the event in the Gulf, and its implications.

Tell the DOE that there is 300 years of petroleum energy under our feet, Drill baby drill.

Tell the DOI that we need experts from private industry not government beurocrats to stop the oil. And remind them that other nations have offered, but Barry wants to go it alone, as not to step on any union toes.

Mr. Robinson, I usually agree with you, but your and most of the other commentary (I refer to the pieces by you and your fellow journalists, not to my fellow rabble posting comments)that is disappointed in President Obama for not declaring war on BP's undersea gusher are ignoring the realities of engineering.

This is a problem in fluid dynamics, materials science, mechanics, chemistry, geology, and biology that dwarfs anything an American president has had to deal with. It makes building the WWII air and ground fleets and the Apollo program look like child's play. He can't call in the shock troops and just throw money (what money?) at the problem. Brute force has already been tried, and has already failed.

The other thing is, an engineering genius is an engineering genius. Problem solving and synthesis of knowledge from multiple fields are the rare skills, not know-how in one field. So scoff not at Mr. Chu and his Nobel. Capping this well will be an act of innovation to which many people with know-how must contribute. It needs a genius innovator to drive the effort. It may not be Chu himself, but at least he'll know what he's looking for.

This is a problem in fluid dynamics, materials science, mechanics, chemistry, geology, and biology that dwarfs anything an American president has had to deal with. It makes building the WWII air and ground fleets and the Apollo program look like child's play. He can't call in the shock troops and just throw money (what money?) at the problem. Brute force has already been tried, and has already failed.

---------------------------------

This is a problem of hubris, failed executive experience, lack of leadership and a failure to act. He could have reached out to experts from every petroleum producing country. International crisis response teams have offered help. HE SAID NO.

Not that it's a surprise, but the partisan nature of the comments here is revealing. It shows that most people have failed to grasp the cataclysmic dimensions of the event in the Gulf, and its implications.

Posted by: MagicDog1 | June 16, 2010 5:04 PM |

===========================================

The implications are not lost on Obama and the Democrats; this crisis is a great opportunity to push Cap and Trade!

A new day is dawning when Gene Gene the Obama praising machine finally wakes up and sees what many of us saw before the 2008 election. This President can speak, but he says nothing and does nothing. "Leaderless in America" continues. 2010 starts the reset...2012 will complete it.

Mr Robinson:
To all of the Obama critics chiming in on the president's presentation regarding the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico last night, I am certain W Bush & Dik Cheney couldn't fix the problem either - and that pair allowed the oil companies to run amuck for eight years with no regard for protecting the evironment.

The simple truth is: No president or the best engineers in the world have a quick solution to the oil spill in the Gulf. President Obama was depending on BP to fix the problem after all they are the experts in the oil extraction business. As it turned out BP's engineers had no answers when the oil well exploded and started emptying millions of gallons of toxic oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico.

I am an Obama supporter. I often time disagree with his timid management style, which was displayed in the 2008 presidential campaign against Senator Hillary Clinton. Then Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination and the presidency with his easy going style. Only time will tell if President Obama will need to borrow a page from LBJ's hell-raising style to prevail in the political battles to come.

"an anxious nation was informed that Energy Secretary Steven Chu has a Nobel Prize." - the down in the dumps pro-Obama liberal/progressive Eugene Robinson

There is a concept that you liberal/progressive need to start warming up to and that is we don't care about your degrees.......we don't care about your Nobel Prizes........we don't care about your Ocars........we don't care about any of your "awards" because the award committees for these libeal/progressive institutions are well.........liberal/progressives.

It's all a sham that is pushed by our corrupt liberal/progressive MSM wolfpack press.........BUT America is coming around to understand how all the corrupt pieces are connected.........

And that's not a good thing for liberal/progressive institutions.........

I am not looking to the Government to cap this spill and clean it up. That would mean that I am looking for U.S. taxes to absorb the cost. No, I am looking to BP to do all of this. The free market comes with it's cost. You mess things up, you pay to clean it up.

To all of the Obama critics chiming in on the president's presentation regarding the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico last night, I am certain W Bush & Dik Cheney couldn't fix the problem either - and that pair allowed the oil companies to run amuck for eight years with no regard for protecting the evironment.

I am not looking to the Government to cap this spill and clean it up. That would mean that I am looking for U.S. taxes to absorb the cost. No, I am looking to BP to do all of this. The free market comes with it's cost. You mess things up, you pay to clean it up.

Ain't life grand.

Posted by: concernedaboutdc

All the better reason to not allow the government to take over any industry, No? Because, then the government can make all the mistakes they want, and nobody is responsible and we have to pay for it. Oh, wait...

I am not looking to the Government to cap this spill and clean it up. That would mean that I am looking for U.S. taxes to absorb the cost. No, I am looking to BP to do all of this. The free market comes with it's cost. You mess things up, you pay to clean it up.

Ain't life grand.

Posted by: concernedaboutdc

All the better reason to not allow the government to take over any industry, No? Because, then the government can make all the mistakes they want, and nobody is responsible and we have to pay for it. Oh, wait...

----------------------

aint life grand since the government has taken such a tight hold on education in this country? Public Unions? How 'bout the stunningly successful Fanny and Freddie's housing market??? Aint it grand?

First Keith, Chris and Howard knock the Big O and now Eugene. The prez is in trouble. When he started on workers installing energy efficient window, I almost gagged. I used to think this great country could survive anyone as president. Now, I'm not so sure. I think the election of 2008 will go down as the biggest bait and switch job of all history.

For all the Liberals saying Bush wouldn't have done better I say BS! He would have called all of his oil buddies and put people in charge on the ground who worked in the business. Not a Nobel prize winner who is in the wrong field! And Bush would have been humble (a word Obama doesn't know the meaning of) enough to let others help (see day #3 with the Dutch). Now we have more committes and commisions that will not clean up a drop of the spill. Just wait until the first hurricane hits the gulf and spreads that oil all over the marshes. They will be destroyed forever (or at least our lifetimes). That will be Obummers legacy (besides the incompetance in running anything that he exhibits daily).

Let's face facts: everyone wants oil. everyone wants to drive a nice car. everyone wants to buy stuff made of plastic (which is derived from oil). everyone wants to use energy to power lot's of stuff. everyone wants to heat their homes. everyone wants to fly around in airplanes, and ride in boats.

We can't have it both ways: use energy without any kind of restraints vs. use energy wisely.

You can't blame the president, nor congress, nor MMS, nor BP for our out-of-control energy use. You might be able to blame the free market for such a dilemna, but the free market is heavily manipulated by the government and wall street.

It's kinda crazy, we teach our kids to "think green," but as soon as they graduate they will buy yet another gas guzzler, a big-screen TV, and a big house. So it goes.

Everybody talks about "going green," but so far it is just a lot of hot air. Clean energy? Show me the plans!

The trouble is: most people can't see any benefits to "going green." Sustainability is a fancy term, that has no meaning to most folks, except of course, a nobel prize winning physicist.

We most likely need an "green educator" in Chief. Someone (like AL GORE) who can teach us why "going green" is important to everyone -- not just the academics.

"Q: Hello. (Inaudible) – from a report the Dutch government is sending over equipment that will be used to help drop the oil and separate it and put it back through the water. I believe those are – I don’t have the right name for the term for it. But Radio Netherlands is reporting that the U.S. Coast Guard has requested the equipment to be sent over and ships. And we’re sending them over this week.

ADM. ALLEN: We’re looking at offers for foreign assistance. We’re actually reaching out to foreign governments. Some of the equipment that is most valuable to us right now is skimming equipment. There are different types of skimmers. Some (Inaudible) – presence in other countries. We’re actually reaching out to folks like the Netherlands and Canada and Mexico that have sources of supply for that. And in fact, we also have some aviation out of Canada that are assisting us as well.

I think it’s essential to be in a containment scenario to the end of the drilling of the relief well and into hurricane season. We want to make sure that the type of resources we need on the water to be able to skim, to burn and so forth are what we need. So we’re looking at every source of supply for these types of equipment. And that’s the type of equipment we’ll be bringing in.

Q: There are many people who say that the best dredgers and skimmers in the world come from countries like the Netherlands and France and that they can't—they're not being asked to come in because of the Jones Act. Is that the case? And why not get around that, suspend that, so you can bring that other you know technology in?

ADMIRAL ALLEN: Well, first of all, those are source countries. That's correct, they're available. But we are using them. We are dealing with folks like Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and other places. Anyplace that's got skimming capability that's available, we're willing to talk to them, and we actually have, in some cases, actually transferred the equipment down and will continue to do that.

If it gets—if it gets to the point where there's a Jones Act required, we're willing to do that, too. Nobody's come to me with a request for a Jones Act waiver, but any skimming capability we can bring in, we're looking for.

Q: So are the actual boats being brought in or just the equipment?

ADMIRAL ALLEN: Well, in some cases it's the skimmer itself. In some cases, the skimming equipment is organic to the vessel itself. It depends on what you're talking about. To my knowledge, what we brought in is actually skimming equipment rather than the vessels themselves, but we can give you a detailed listing.
///////////////////////////////

Where are people getting the misinformation that the Obama administration has rejected all foreign assistance, or ever did?

This is from a June 14th press release from the Joint Incident Command:

Foreign Countries and International Organizations Contribute to Response Efforts

To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre.

The Unified Command continues to look at all available options for assistance as we continue to fight BP's oil from impacting our shores and our communities. Assistance provided to date includes containment and sorbent boom, skimmers and containment vessels, and engineers and scientists with vital experience in oil spill cleanup operations.

So, Eugene, you're starting to open your eyes and realize that Obama is an incomptent fool, whose marxist agenda and incompetence makes him totally ineffective as a chief "executive." Are you starting to miss George W. Bush?

Here are the numbers as of June 16th, for all those who have been criticizing the response:

By the Numbers to Date:

•The administration has authorized the deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to respond to this crisis; to date, 1,611 have been activated.
•Approximately 31,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
•More than 5,000* vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
•Approximately 2.39 million feet of containment boom and 3.48 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 468,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
•Approximately 21.2 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
•Approximately 1.3 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—885,000 on the surface and 414,000 subsea. More than 505,000 gallons are available.
•More than 210 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 5.2 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
•17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
•Approximately 52.6 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently experiencing impacts from BP’s leaking oil—34.8 miles in Louisiana, 0.9 miles in Mississippi, 9.9 miles in Alabama, and 7 miles in Florida.
•Approximately 80,800 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters remain closed to fishing in order to balance economic and public health concerns. More than 66 percent remain open. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.
•To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre.
////////////////////////////////////

I'd better stop this -- it is probably a violation of the TOS to post facts instead of uninformed opinion.

So, Eugene, you're starting to open your eyes and realize that Obama is an incomptent fool, whose marxist agenda and incompetence makes him totally ineffective as a chief "executive." Are you starting to miss George W. Bush?

So, Eugene, you're starting to open your eyes and realize that Obama is an incomptent fool, whose marxist agenda and incompetence makes him totally ineffective as a chief "executive." Are you starting to miss George W. Bush?

Amazing how so many on the left cannot think with any sort of critical reasoning. First of all, the way to develop "alternative" fuels is not by taxing fossil fuel out of existence. All that would do is put an overwhelming financial burden on regular people who need to drive to work, such as salespeople, truckers, etc. Not everyone can carpool or take the bus.
Also, if these "alternative" fuels made with such free materials as sunlight and the wind could be made into a profitable commodity, businesses would be falling over themselves to produce and sell it. Taxing fossil fuels to death won't make windfarms any more viable. Don't you think if we could run engines on saltwater someone would?
We have enough oil/coal/natural gas in the U.S. and on our Continental shelf to make us 100% energy independent. In addition, if you want to avoid deepwater spills, allow oil companies to drill on shore or closer to the coast - this leak would be a lot easier to stop if it weren't a mile underwater. Thanks for that treehuggers!
And let's not forget, Dr. Chu isn't the only admin member with a Nobel prize...Obama has one as well. Hell, add Al Gore's prize and tree hugging zealotry to the mix and those geniuses should have it all solved right away!
But, never let a good crises (read: opportunity to tax) go to waste! Guess that "laserlike focus on jobs" doesn't include anyone who works in the oil industry...

This is why many of us were disappointed when you supported Obama in the primaries. From the beginning, he clearly lacked the experience, expertise and even interest in policy. To me, he was always kind of like Bush. Light on everything that counts. Next time we should look at people's previous accomplishments just a little bit more before endorsing them, right Eugene? I guess we should root for competence. I assure you, Hillary's eight years in the White House (which you poopooed) were much more impressive than Obama's entire lifetime of political experience, including now.

Well, only if you actually had false hopes and expectations for The One to begin with. We who knew he was woefully unprepared and incompetent from Day One are not disappointed. We just sadly shake our heads and quietly say "I 'effin told you so!"

The Nobel lost most of it's credibility when it was awarded to Jimmy Carter, it lost all credibility when it was awarded to Barack Hussein Obama. Obama is not only not qualified to lead us in this crisis, he just doesn't care. He doesn't want to let this crisis go to waste....He wants to use it to push his radical climate change agenda. If we elect this clown to a second term we will be paying $10 a gallon for gasoline before 2016. You think the unemployment rate is bad now????

Interesting. I heard the speech. The Nobel prize comments just seemed superfluous. I listened to the info about the escrow and plans for oversight and claims payments. Maybe since I live in the Keys I paid attention to the parts that might potentially impact my neighbors and myself. I wouldn't expect the prez at this point to have a detailed plan. Unfortunately, it's one slow step at a time. However, I do think it's a step in the right direction. Bottom line: we have got to develop alternative, sustainable energy sources. Oil is literally killing us.

I'd better stop this -- it is probably a violation of the TOS to post facts instead of uninformed opinion.

Posted by: PostSubscriber

Interesting. For all the "facts" no links. If 0bama had done half of what you cite, he would have bragged to high heaven last night, and either he, or his flunky Bumbles Gibbs would have had a Q&A afterward. I call pure BS.

Obama's problem is that he's too professorial. He's not what america wants to see, and that's a bad thing.

This is why republicans put up candidates like a Fred Thompson. It wasn't political savvyness that had him touted about, it was his rough, gruff, rambo-ish characterizations on TV that endeared him to the raw meat eaters.

Obama's got no practice at this. He's never been in movies or a series. Never acted anything out.

He is un-sexy at this. That's why he's getting heat.

As a dissapointed democrat, I was let down when he refused to go after Bush or Cheney. They were criminal in their administration, clearly.

I was enraged that his un-sexyness allowed the healthcare debate to evolve into a perverse degeneration of anything to do with reality by the right, and that he abandoned the public option.

There have other situations where I've done a double take and asked, " Where's the Obama with fire that campaigned"?

Last night,the president exposed how incompetent he really is.The rhetorical flourishes and soaring speeches are no longer a substitute for real leadership.Nobody expects Obama and his staff to plug the hole.We do expect him to marshall every resource and take all the assistance that has been offered to save the beaches and the Gulf coastline.He has failed miserably to show urgency and action in dealing with that one,critical need and the disastrous results show it! The missed opportunities for equipment,skimmers,ships and manpower are now becoming known and the bureaucratic bungling from many federal agencies is a scandal.

I don't usually agree with Eugene Robinson, but he knows crap when he hears it. I honestly didn't expect much from Obama, but I thought he would at least detail all the resources domestic and foreign that were being put into the Gulf to prevent the oil from coming onshore and to clean up the oil that made in onshore until the hold gets plugged. An apology for 2 months of ineptitude might also have been in order. Unfortunately, we didn't get that, and when Obama switched from a true crisis to trying to pitch his corrupt cap, con, and tax scheme I was horrified. I couldn't believe he was so blatantly doing the "Don't let a good crisis go to waste" bit. Obama is far over his head. We need massive political change ASAP!!!

What about the Congress? What about the state governors and state legislatures? Are these people completely helpless without some kind of king-like figure in Washington taking charge?

Why couldn't Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida do something they don't do now- i.e.,tax their wealthier citizens- to help contribute money to cleaning up waters and shores in their own states? Florida doesn't even have a state income tax at all.

I'm sorry for the less-well-off people in these states who are suffering. But it's about time that the wealthier people among these low-tax would-be Confederates are made to pay their fair share of the true costs of running a government in a modern country. Why not start now, instead of borrowing yet more money from foreign investors?

Leaping to ridiculous and instant conclusions has made liberal pundits like Eugene Robinson, Keith Olbermann, Robert Reich, and others have been looking as bad as the rightwingers wackos at Fox of late. Within hours of his Oval Office speech, Obama has secured an agreement from BP to put 10 billion in escrow to deal with the Gulf disaster it inflicted. Apparently, these liberal pundits thought the speech was not emotional, eloquent, or demanding enough to get anything from anybody. How stupid and mean they look today.

Gene, Gene - have you been spending too much time on the road covering tea party shows? Do we have an actual scientist in charge of DoE? Does he have a FAR shorter learning curve on ANY technology than your run-of-the-mill political appointee? Have you listened to him questioning the engineers and technologists on this issue?

Is the response leader for the crisis the highly qualified and highly experienced leader of the nation's most competent emergency response organization? (Yeah - the Coast Guard - the rare US govt. agency that is universally respected!)

Do us all a favor and don't flap your gums unless you have something to say!

I'm generally a fan of your commentaries, but this was just stupid - time for a beach-break, friend.

The people that need to be consulted are mining engineers with minor in petroleum, geologists, and design engineers of equipment to be used.
First priority is to completely stop the leak. That had to be done yesterday.

Getting BP to put billions into escrow could have been done at a later date.

Wow. President Obama and his cronies really are elitists. I know this type. They are high achievers who value education and glorify it as the end all.( I can say this because I have degrees too) They are one dimensional and believe they are the only ones who are smart enough to deal with big issues.

The problem comes in when book ideas don't work. They then don't know what to do because they have not exercised any common sense thinking. That is Obama's weakness.

@dangler
Typical jackass liberal:
"Granted the Chu thing was misplaced and time wasted, but there is only so much to say to coddle the relentless whiners... "

-yeah, the balls on those people who live in the Gulf and are sick of oil all over their shoreline, not to mention out of work....greedy bastards.

"...for God's sake Obama has been in office 17 months and the first 12 months were hyper crisis mode thanks to the Great GOP near-Depression of 2007 and the many Republican Master-Baiters!"
-The Dems controlled Congress (thus law-making, regulating, taxes, spending) from 2007 to present. So how, exactly, is the GOP completely responsible for the "near-Depression"? Are you saying the Dems are without blame?
"Yeah there are 'some' Obama campaign promises NOT kept 'YET', so hold on to yourself - there is still time, or are you just an impatient adolescent brat?"
-Yeah, like the promise to keep unemployment under 9% w/ the "Stimulus"? Again, you're right - those whiny bastards who actually want to work for a living sure are "impatient brats"...They just recognize the genius that is Obama, right?

You know, it's fine if you want to drink the Kool-Aid and ignore the clear fact that Obama's lack of experience is a major issue in his multiple failure's so far, but it's so annoying (and typical) of liberals to personally insult those who don't share their own warped views that place party over all else.

Chu-y (Nobel prize whiner) came up with the grand scheme to paint rooftops and roads white so as to reflect the sun's heating back into space. This was supposed to cool the planet somewhat. I would suggest that we have all of those billions of Chinese folk in China bleach their black hair to a dazzling white. Surely the combined surface area of the bleached scalps would more than offset any of the sun's heating and thus win me a Nobel or something like that.

With the likes of Al Gore and Barack Obama having been awarded Nobel Prizes for essentially doing nothing, the Nobel Committee has inadvertently deminished the value of that prize to the point where it is meaningless. The Nobel committee has made it an award for who has the same politics as us award.

With the likes of Al Gore and Barack Obama having been awarded Nobel Prizes for essentially doing nothing, the Nobel Committee has inadvertently deminished the value of that prize to the point where it is meaningless. The Nobel committee has made it an award for who has the same politics as us award.

Even "Uncle Tom Obama" Gene Robinson is becoming upset with Obama. Not because of his policies but for his appearance and demeanor. Gene is a POL hack journalist. When will the Post and Times wake up and get rid of these Liberal Idealouges.

I strongly disagree with Robinson's entire article. Dr Chu's Nobel resulted from his ability to use ideas from one research area in another area.

Here is a link to a video where Chu speaks of his ideas and his past. He speaks of how at Bell Labs, scientists were encouraged to work with each other across fields - ie chemists working with physicists - sometimes leading both to ideas that they otherwise would not get to on their own. He spoke of how he tried to foster the same intellectual creative freedom in his later role at a university. He spoke of wanting to bring that excitement to research as Secretary of Energy. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-7gWsoXtUw )

Robinson also apparently has no problem writing this article where he speaks as knowing the type of person who should take the lead here - a biologist or an engineer. I would argue that a research scientist, good enough to get a Nobel prize, with management experience in both business (Bell Labs) and academia, might be the exactly who you want leading an effort where THERE ARE NO KNOWN SOLUTIONS.

The part he is heading is dealing with sealing the leak and the efforts to contain the oil. Why would a biologist be better here. As to an engineer, there are many engineers working on this. Robinson might be interested to know that within Bell Labs, many groups consisted of both physicists and engineers - often doing similar things. Would Dr Chu have been more capable or creative had his degree been in one of the engineering fields?

Years ago, I heard Dr Penzias, also a Bell Labs Nobel Prize winner, explain to kids at the Labs for take your daughter to work day, that physics was the study of how things work. In the Gulf, our technology has created a problem where the solution is not clear. Understanding the underlying physics and proposing and evaluating alternative solutions seem to me to be the key to fixing the problem. As no discipline has all the answers here, having a creative physicist in the lead sounds great to me - better than a career bureaucrat.

My question is did Robinson hate his high school physics class? Is that coloring this opinion piece?

Eugene, what is more disturbing is the psychological disaster that Obama is. Did you see this:

Per his last physical at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the doctor report included the following:

"....subject continues to struggle with childhood socialization issues related to parental indifference, race identify and physical anomalies associated with an under-developed penis and the presence of a third testicle. Such abnormalities have resulted in a bravado of supreme false confidence and a deep hatred of other human beings who possess superior character, skills or work ethic; thus resulting in an unquenchable desire to steal wealth from others."

When Obama proves too much for Robinson to chu, there is hope. The mind-boggling obsession with Obama's exaggerated charm, intellect, and general infallibility that Robinson and the ilk have labored so arduously to create is dealt with a heavy blow by the spill disaster, a brutal wakeup call for the nation to face the ultimate sin of our time: the danger of hope and wishful thinking. The fact that Obama is an inexperienced, indecisive, mediocre legislator miraculously catapulted to politically supremacy, almost entirely in spite of himself, is a pricy cautionary tale of our generation. Just like the facade of the marital strengh of the Gores, and the phony intellectualism of the Bill O'Reilly's and the Jon Stewarts, the case of Obama being sent to the White House has to be the biggest fraud in recent memory.

I have the audacity to hope that the Eugene Robinsons in the world would stop the clownish swooning for Obama like school girls meeting the Jonas brothers at the local mall, for the true difference between Chauncy Gardener and our current POTUS is that the former watches too much TV, and the latter reads too much self-indulgent gibberish from people like Eugene Robinson.

Don't the excuses from Lefty on this comments section reveal why President Misery is so lost, so way in over his head? Don't the events over the past 18 months (feels like 20 years)prove that the Progressives ruin everything they touch? You think this oil spill is bad, wait until they wreck our health care system. Progressives are a blight across the world- they are bringing bankruptcy and financial ruin where ever they are allowed to take root. They are a cancer, propped up by powerful labor unions itching to shake down our citizens to line their own pockets. Dirty, filthy, corrupt labor unions bribing democrats has become a way of life under the Obama Regime. Impeach this fraud- for the preservation of our country.

Obama is socialist coward who is tougher on Tony Hayward than he is on terrorists. Obama is anti-business, he just wants to kill another goose, he only knows how to destroy value, not create it. Another leftist, Democrat phony. Please stop insulting Jimmy Carter by comparing Obama to him. Jimmy is Lincoln compared to Obama.

You must not have seen CNN today Eugene. You, and the majority of Americans (would include me), are just not smart enough to understand his genius. We must all be the "brown shoe" on this tuxedo ...I heard the same thing you did!

Let's be careful with the the comparisons to Carter, as these are actually very insulting to Carter.

Remember Carter was different than Obama in the following ways:

-- Carter was born in the United States
-- Carter obtained a worthwhile college education of substance (nuclear engineering)
-- Carter held a real job and served as a naval officer
-- Carter was humble, believed in God and attended church without policital motivations
-- Carter grew peanuts in Georgia

Obama and Carter are similar in some ways:

-- Obama has a mega-watt smile like Carter
-- Obama withdrew our missile defenses of Georgia and Poland, for virtually peanuts
-- Obama gave a Malaise speech too
-- Obama will probably cause gas lines just like Carter
-- Obama and Carter both kept the WH thermostat at 68 degrees, (July for Obama, January for Carter)
-- Obama has weakened us around the World, just like Carter
-- Obama is destroying the U.S. economy, just like Carter
-- Obama is an anti-semite, just like Carter
-- Obama is surrounded by leftist morons, just like Carter
-- Obama does coke in the WH, just like Carter's Jody Powell
-- Obama will be a one-termer, just like Carter

@billyvw:
You said:
"We could put every penny earned from a fossil fuel tax into wind and solar subsidies."
Even within the confines of your own alternative energy fantasy world, this makes no sense. If we massively subsidize wind and solar, we sould make it so that companies in those fields would make (government-generated) profits under current conditions. That would de-incentivize innovation, the purpose of which would be to make the eneterprise profitable WITHOUT subsidies. If I can turn a profit with what I can make right now, why would I invest in improving it? you do not get innovation by subsidizing the status quo. You get more status quo.

I think BP CEO Hayworth and Interior Secretary Salazar both should be fired. If it was Japan, Interior Secretary would have committed suicide. We should let Salazar lose his job only. btw, Secretary Chu did not win a Nobel prize by plugging the d*** hole. Also, it proves that Obama is not a Messiah or a leader. He is great in reading from teleprompters.

Thank you for your accurate report. But what exactly do you expect from a community organizer? That is Obama's credintials! He has never run a business or had to meet a payroll. He's never had an executive position until he became president. He is doing what a community organizer would do. He's holding meetings. He's trying to get everyone on "the same page". He's just being what he is. The problem is we need a president. We need a president who acts presidential. We need a leader who does more than "care" and who is going to.... We need action and we need it yesterday. I'm sorry to say President Obama is not up to this challenge. After it was disclosed we lost another 12,000 jobs this week, he and VP Biden are praising the recovery. What recovery? He needs to come to my part of the country and tell my customers the recession is over so they'll start buying from me again. The last time we were this helpless was when Jimmy Carter was in office and our people were being held hostage by Iran. As my mom used to say "It's a crying shame."

Folks, it's all very well to demand "leadership", but the fact is that there is not a lot anyone can do in a hurry to plug a leak that far underwater. The best way to plug the leak was to not let it happen, but BP and the governmental oversight group (MMS) that they seduced already blew that.

There is no use pretending to believe that if John McCain or Sarah Palin were in charge that things would be any better; in fact, given Palin's long-time reliance on the Petroleum industry in Alaska, it's likely BP would be getting off scot-free.

All that a President can do in this case is damage control. Could he be doing more? Maybe, maybe not: There are constraints on his actions, too. Should he be pushing harder for getting off petroleum dependence? Perhaps so (I would be in favor), but that kind of push might backfire as well.

This is not a Katrina-level failure, where the Bush administration maintained a level of obstinate ignorance of even what was being shown on TV. It is a sub-optimal handling of the public relations; but in fact, there is not a lot more that can actually be done anyway in the near-term.